CEDAR HOUSE - architeria.eu

CEDAR HOUSE

Hudson Architects’ Cedar House, a new-build private residence in Norfolk, pilots a new prototype for
cost-effective new-build modern housing. It deploys innovative off-site construction, which simplifies
the building process without compromising the architecture of the house.

Designed for a photographer and his family, the brief was for a simple house comprising two bedrooms
and a third room, which could function as both a guest room and office. A separate area of the house
was required to provide a dark room and a larger spacious gallery/studio with separate loading access
for large canvases and prints.

The location of the building dictated the external envelope of the house. Situated in the countryside of
North Elmham, on the river Wensum, it was important that the building was sensitive to its surroundings
and sat comfortably with the local agricultural landscape. Hudson Architects designed a modest rural
building simple in form and evocative of a functional farm building. This design led to research into possible
elemental construction methods. Working with structural engineers Alan Conisbee Associates and off site
construction specialists Framework CDM the practice adopted Framework’s system of prefabricated timber
panel floors, walls and roofing, making the entire building extremely quick to assemble on site and offering
high levels of insulation.

What is exceptional about the house is the way in which Hudson Architects have achieved complex
spacious interiors from a prefabricated system. Keen to stretch the inherent properties of the panel
system, Hudson Architects discovered that a lightweight roof structure would eliminate roof beams
permitting soaring ceilings and seamless open plan spaces, and that large openings, even across corners,
were achievable without the need for additional structural reinforcement.

This meant that the practice could design a light and spacious building arrangement that engaged with its
surroundings whilst also offering a ready-made building package which kept the costs down and presented
limited risk to the client. The final scheme incorporates a cantilevered corner window measuring 4m x 2m
which frames views onto the river from the living room and an 8m line of glazed doors which fold in
completely, extending the living room on to a raised deck on the West side.

Orientated on a North-South axis the building makes the most of the morning and afternoon sun.
The kitchen faces East and the living room deck and entrance space is orientated to the West overlooking
the planned orchard.

Externally the building has been entirely cloaked in 15,000 untreated cedar shingles, a material which belies
the prefabricated system beneath. Fixed to battens over a breathable waste-woodchip building board
cedar was chosen as a more cost effective alternative to weatherboarding. Coupled with the clean lines
of the aluminium window surrounds and integrated into a design, which cleverly conceals obtrusive rainwater
systems, the cedar reads as a dramatic sleek protective cloak, which sits harmoniously with its countryside
surroundings.

Built on a 100 year flood plain and designed to sit one metre above the ground, the lower half of the structure
has been engineered to be sacrificial in the unlikely event of flood. Internally, electrical circuits and sockets
are raised to a dado height level.

The building, which was erected in just one week under a design and build contract, is extremely cost
effective at approximately £1000 per sqm (excluding external works). The final value £245,000 came within
the original budget of £275,000 and was delivered on time.

Hudson Architects were able to deliver innovative detailed design at a low cost by engaging in an informal
partnership with the manufacturers and contractors, Framework CDM, with whom they collaborated closely.
The challenge now is to work with the house building sector to harness this innovation and apply the lessons
learned to the mass house-building sector.

Project data:
> Architectural practice: Hudson Architects
> Design team: Anthony Hudson, Dieter Kleiner
> Structural Engineer: Alan Conisbee & Associates
> Manufacturer / Contractor: Framework Construction Design Management Ltd
> Quantity Surveyor: Roger Rawlinson Associates